Manda roti

A bread rolled so thin it is served folded like a handkerchief, cooked on the outside of an upturned pan.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (ghee), dairy (milk).

Ingredients

• 250 g maida, which is plain white flour
• 150 g whole wheat atta
• 150 ml milk, warm
• about 100 ml water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 3 tablespoons ghee

Method

1. IT COOKS ON THE CONVEX OUTSIDE OF AN UPTURNED KADAHI, which is the only equipment note its article gives and the one that matters: manda roti is cooked ON THE CONVEX SIDE OF A KADAHI. A kadahi upside down over the flame gives a dome of hot metal with no rim, so a sheet far wider than the pan can be draped over it and turned by hand. On a flat tava the overhang cooks in the air and tears.
2. AND ITS OWN HISTORY SAYS THE SAME. The article traces manda to the Sanskrit mandaka, and quotes Bhojanakutuhala's recipe for mandaka as COOKED ON AN UPTURNED POT. The pot is older than the name.
3. THE DOUGH IS TWO FLOURS, SOFTENED WITH MILK. Its article asks for A COMBINATION OF WHOLE-WHEAT ATTA FLOUR AND WHITE WHEATEN MAIDA FLOUR, and lists cardamom, ghee, sugar and milk among what it can be made with. The maida is what lets it be pulled thin; the atta is what lets it taste of wheat.
4. KNEAD IT TWELVE MINUTES AND THEN LEAVE IT AN HOUR. This is the one bread here where the kneading is not optional: it has to be stretched to the width of a tablecloth without a hole, and that is gluten. The dough should pull to a windowpane before it rests.
5. WORK GHEE INTO IT, THEN REST IT AGAIN. A tablespoon kneaded in at the end, and the ball oiled all over and covered. Twenty minutes more. Oiled dough stretches; floured dough snaps back.
6. ROLL EACH BALL AS FAR AS THE PIN GOES, THEN STRETCH IT OVER YOUR KNUCKLES. Six balls. Roll to a dinner plate, then pick it up and let it hang over the backs of both hands, moving them apart. The article's words are EXTREMELY THIN AND LIMP, and limp is the test: a sheet that holds its shape is still too thick.
7. DRAPE IT ON THE DOME AND COUNT TO TWENTY. Over a medium flame. It goes opaque and blisters in seconds. Lift it with your fingertips from the edge, flip it, ten seconds more. Any longer and it is a crisp.
8. FOLD IT IN FOUR WHILE IT IS HOT AND STACK IT UNDER A CLOTH. Its article serves the bread FOLDED LIKE A HANDKERCHIEF, which is what the name rumali means and what the bread is for: it is a wrapper for kebabs, not something to tear at.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes